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Earlier this month, Bob Weir, rhythm guitarist, singer, and founding member of the Grateful Dead and many of its offshoots and side projects, passed away. If that seems like an unusual way to begin a gardening column, bear with me. Bob was not quite as famous as bandmate Jerry Garcia, but he helped carry on the legacy of the band for 30 years after Jerry passed, and Bob wrote and sang nearly as many of the Grateful Dead’s songs as Jerry did. Perhaps the most well-known of Bob’s songs was ‘Sugar Magnolia,’ and to honor his legacy, that is the plant I will write about this week. Except, it turns out that there’s no such thing. There’s many different types of magnolias, of course, and far be it for me to question Bob and co-writer Robert Hunter’s botanical knowledge, but good luck finding a horticulture reference of any kind that lists one by that name. The NC State Plant Toolbox (plants.ces.ncsu.edu), one of the finest online plant databases, lists nineteen species of Magnolia, and countless cultivars, but a search for Sugar Magnolia turns up zero results. So which one of those nineteen species might he have been talking about? I started learning about plants as a teenager, right around the same time I started listening to the Grateful Dead and other classic rock bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The first magnolia I discovered was saucer magnolia, Magnolia soulangeana, a hybrid with multiple trunks that lands somewhere between large shrub and small tree. Saucer magnolia is known for it purplish-pink early spring flowers, which are highly susceptible to cold and frost. Once I realized there wasn’t a true sugar magnolia, I convinced myself that perhaps this was the one the song was about, for no particular reason other than ‘Saucer Magnolia’ wasn’t a catchy song title, so changing the name was an artistic decision.
Top left: In early spring, the saucer magnolia has purplish-pink flowers on the outside and whitish on the inside. I wondered if this was the magnolia they were singing about. Photo: Bagemet, CC BY-SA 4.0 Bottom left: Then I wondered if it could be the sweetbay magnolia since the blooms of this tree are sweet. Photo: H. Duckworth, CC BY 4.0. Right: Finally, I thought it might be the very impressive Southern magnolia, although its scent is not particularly sweet. Sweetbay magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, is a more likely possibility. Sugar is sweet, of course, and there is a mention in the lyrics of “sweet blossoms,” so this seems to make some sense. The sweetbay magnolia is a small to medium semi-evergreen tree, with white spring blossoms that are pleasantly fragrant and showy, but smaller and not as prolific as many other magnolias. It is native to the Eastern United States. The Grateful Dead were from California and while they’d eventually tour the world many times over, it seems unlikely that they’d write one of their most enduring songs about a niche species from the other side of the country like Sweetbay magnolia.
So maybe it’s the more popular and grandiose Magnolia grandiflora, often called Southern magnolia. These are abundant throughout the Southern United States, including Louisiana, which perhaps makes the lyric “She can dance a Cajun rhythm” relevant to this discussion. Everything about this species is more impressive. The leaves and flowers are substantially larger than the sweetbay, and the height and width can be nearly double, so it certainly could make an impression on even a casual observer. It is not, however, particularly sweet. Its flowers are fragrant but not nearly as much so as the sweetbay. The mystery continues. The Grateful Dead were notorious pranksters, and Bob often spoke of his sixty years of playing in the band as being just a small part of what he hoped would be a 300-year-long musical legacy, so maybe botanical nerds like me will be spending the next 240 years trying to answer this silly question while listening to the music play. Fare thee well, Bob. Matthew Stevens is the Horticulture Extension Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact the Pitt County Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705.
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As gardeners, we all have our favorite and least favorite plants. Once we decide which plants make up each list, we rarely, if ever, let them move from one list to the other. However, for every rule there is an exception. To that end, I must admit that Mahonia, a group of plants in the genus Berberis that was once firmly entrenched on my least favorite list, is now perhaps not quite ready to be ranked amongst my favorites, but certainly one I see a lot more value in than previously. When I’ve mentioned this to other gardeners, I sense that Mahonia is or has been on a lot of least favorite lists, but let me attempt to make the case here for Mahonia as a valuable landscape plant in just one sentence. If I told you that there was an easy-to-grow evergreen shrub that could tolerate a range of soils, required little pruning, was largely deer-resistant, had attractive, fragrant yellow flowers in early winter when little else was blooming (that are loved by bees when the temperatures are warm enough for them to forage), and produced colorful blue fruit that ripen by early spring, you would want that plant, right? Well, Mahonia is that plant.
is blooming. Photo: Nacho, CC BY 2.0. Top right: Close-up of yellow blooms. Photo: J. Martin, Public Domain Mark 1.0 Bottom left: Colorful blue fruit ripen by early spring. Photo: Nacho, CC BY 2.0 Bottom right: The narrow foliage of Berberis eurybracteata makes it less abrasive and gentler looking than leatherleaf Mahonia. ‘Soft Caress’ is a popular cultivar of this narrow leaf type that is quite colorful in full bloom and increasing in popularity. I imagine a lot of you are put off by the foliage, as I was for a long time. Berberis aquifolium, one of the most commonly used species of Mahonia, has sharp pointy leaves much like many hollies. They are long and pinnately compound (meaning that many individual leaflets make up a single leaf). With 9-13 leaflets per leaf and 3-5 spines per leaflet, there’s a lot of opportunity to be rudely poked by this plant. Mahonia grows best in partial sun, where it will maintain a glossy green color. If grown in full sun, the leaves can become bleached and that certainly makes them less attractive. So, between the undesirable color of the leaves when grown in the wrong spot, and its prickliness, a lot of us have crossed paths with Mahonia and been left unimpressed.
Like so many plants, however, Mahonia is much more attractive when grown under the right conditions. In moist, acidic soils under partial shade, such as a wooded area under pines, Mahonia is a nice shrub. If Berberis aquifolium, also commonly known as Oregon holly grape, doesn’t suit you, you may find the slightly softer leaves of Berberis fortunei or Berberis x hortensis more pleasing. Berberis eurybracteata also has much narrower foliage than leatherleaf Mahonia or the hybrids, which makes it less abrasive and gentler looking. ‘Soft Caress’ is a popular cultivar of this narrow leaf type that is quite colorful in full bloom and increasing in popularity. All grow best in well-drained, acidic soil in partial shade. It should be noted that Berberis bealei, a species of Mahonia still offered for sale in many nurseries, garden centers, and big box stores across the state, is listed as an invasive species by the NC Invasive Plant Council. It also has coarse, sharp leaves that many find unappealing. If choosing to plant Mahonia, it is best to avoid this particular species and instead plant one of the others that I have mentioned. Matthew Stevens is the horticulture extension agent for Nash County Cooperative Extension. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact Matthew at 459-1403 or [email protected]. I often write about how flowers aren’t the only ornamental characteristic by which we should judge the aesthetic value of plants. Sure, pretty blooms are nice, but plants do other things as well. There are, of course, many plants whose primary attribute is their attractive fruit, or their colorful fall foliage. Sometimes even more subtle attributes, such as bark color or texture, may be the thing that first catches your eye when observing a plant. Perhaps that’s the case with sugarberry, Celtis laevigata, or it’s close cousin hackberry, Celtis occidentalis. Both are known for the corky growth that develops on their trunks and branches. Initially these corky growths may appear as individual bumps or warts, but they increase in size as the trees age, often creating deeply furrowed ridges along the trunk. This may not be pretty, in the classic sense, but it is certainly notable, and if trunks are your thing, this very well may float your boat.
Beyond this somewhat unusual physical trait, both sugarberry and hackberry are tall deciduous trees that cast quite a bit of shade. They are often used as street trees in urban areas for this reason, lining sidewalks and parking lots. They can be a bit messy, however, as they produce many small red berries that can get stepped on and smushed. The berries do offer another small bit of ornamental value, but more than this, they are valuable as a food source for many birds and small mammals who feed on them. Sugarberry and hackberry both also serve as host or food source for a large number of butterfly species, including the Hackberry Emperor, American Snout, Morning Cloak, Tawny Emperor, and Question Mark butterfly. They are pretty large for the average home landscape – hackberry grows 40-60’ tall, and sugarberry 50-70’. But if you are a native plant enthusiast who also values pollinators, either of these trees would be a good thematic fit in your landscape.
Both trees are related to elm, though both seem to have resistance to the problematic Dutch elm disease, which has decimated the American elm population. It is also part of the Hemp (Cannabaceae) family, and though it doesn’t seem to share any of the intoxicating effects of other relatives, perhaps that relationship is why this plant was used by some Native Americans for medicinal purposes. A concoction made from the bark was used to treat sore throats and other ailments, and parts of this tree have also been used historically to make food, fuel, and tools. In more modern times, the wood from hackberry is used to make furniture and baskets. Although we often think of natives as relatively pest free, both hackberry and sugarberry have a number of minor pest issues. Aphids love tender new growth, and the excretions of their feeding often lead to black sooty mold. They are also prone to powdery mildew, leaf spot, and an unsightly but mostly harmless condition called hackberry nipple gall, which causes a bumpy distortion to infected leaves. Matthew Stevens is the horticulture extension agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact the Pitt County Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705. While Juniper is hardly the sexiest genus in the plant world, it is undeniably a diverse genus with a large number of plants that fill utilitarian roles in many landscapes. Not all plants need to be the star of the show. Landscapes, like teams, need role players. Need a ground cover? How about one of the many Juniperus horizontalis cultivars? The most popular of these, ‘Blue Rug’ juniper, is a dense creeping evergreen shrub with bluish-green tinted foliage. ‘Blue Rug’ may only grow 4-6 inches or so above ground, but each plant will grow 6-8’ wide in time, if not larger. It’s a great option for slopes or erosion control, or simply to cover areas beneath larger shrubs or small trees. It is a slow grower, however, so if you’re looking for a plant that can establish quicker, you may wish to try ‘Bar Harbor,’ which will grow about a foot high and is not quite as dense, or ‘Plumosa,’ which grows 18 inches high by 5 feet wide. ‘Plumosa’ needles have a slightly more grayish cast, and turn purplish during the cold months of winter.
green tinted foliage. It makes up for its low height by growing six to eight feet wide. Photo: F.D. Richards, CC-BY-SA 2.0. Lower left: ‘Bar Harbor’ needles. ‘Bar Harbor’ grows about a foot high. Photo: J. Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 Right: The Eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, is a native tree that can be used as a privacy screen. Photo: N.A. Tonelli, CC BY 2.0. Maybe you don’t need a groundcover, but you are looking for a medium to large tree to establish a screen. Many people use arborvitae or Leyland cypress, but since there are some pest concerns with each of these plants, you want to try a native alternative. Enter Eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana. While not entirely pest-free, this upright pyramidal-shaped evergreen tree is averse to some of the bigger issues facing the other screen trees mentioned, though with a similar size and appearance, making it a suitable alternative in some scenarios. Similar to many of the groundcover junipers mentioned above, its needles are more of a blue-green or gray-green than a true green.
What about an accent plant in a shrub border? The Chinese junipers, Juniperus chinensis, come in all shapes and sizes, but many of the most widely available cultivars are small to medium-sized shrubs with off-color foliage. For example, both ‘Parsons’ and ‘Angelica’ have bluish-green foliage, while ‘Gold Star,’ ‘Old Gold,’ and ‘Saybrook Gold’ are golden-yellow. Using plants of these hues in combination with more typical green foliage, or with other off colors like burgundy or purple, can create some striking visual combinations in the landscape. Regardless of which juniper you may need to fill a niche role in your landscape, they more than likely will share a few common characteristics. The first is an affinity for soils that are average moisture or drier – they don’t like to be wet. Most will grow best and express their color optimally in full sun. Many produce what is often referred to as a berry, but botanically is more accurately a cone. Cones from some junipers are used as seasoning, or to make beverages, including gin. Plant foliage, though frequently prickly to the touch, is often pleasantly aromatic. Matthew Stevens is the horticulture extension agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact the Pitt County Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705. Rare are the plants in our landscape that bloom in fall and winter, and perhaps that’s why camellias are such a treasured plant in the South. They really have no rival when it comes to the floral display that they put on during the coldest part of the year. As many experienced gardeners are probably aware, there are two different species of camellia commonly found in our area, Camellia sasanqua and Camellia japonica. Despite what the names might lead you to believe, both are native to Japan, not just the japonica species. Both are slow growing, dense, slightly pyramidal-shaped large shrubs that like moist, well-drained, acidic soil. Sasanquas and japonicas are different in a number of ways that are important for gardeners to know. For starters, sasanquas are generally a smaller plant. They generally grow to a height of about 6-10 feet, compared to 10-15 feet for the japonicas. Sasanquas have smaller leaves and flowers as well. Though flowering time varies quite a bit within each species, sasanquas tend to bloom earlier, in mid to late fall, while japonicas often flower from January through March. Although it is a treat to have plants that can produce such spectacular blooms during the coldest part of the year, camellia petals can often be damaged by especially cold temperatures, turning brown around the edges. This is true of both species. Plants themselves are hardy, but will need protection from cold winter winds. Often they’ll do best when placed near a wall or building where they’ll have some shelter during the coldest part of the year. Of the two species, Camellia japonica tends to be a bit more winter hardy.
 Top left: ‘Autumn Spirit’ is a cold-hardy fall-winter blooming camellia bred at UNC-Chapel Hill. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0 Top right: Camellia japonica do best when placed near a wall or building that provides shelter during the coldest part of the year. Photo: C. Dewitt, CC BY 4.0 Middle left: The roselike flower of ‘Ashton’s Ballet,’ an Ackerman hybrid, has double flowers in November and December. Middle right: ‘Snow Flurry’ is one of the earliest cold-hard fall-blooming Ackerman camellias. Bottom row: The flowers and leaves of camellia sasanqua are smaller than those of camellia japonica. A series of cold-hardy camellia hybrids known as the Ackerman hybrids was developed to be more tolerant of extreme winter conditions. These are named after the plant breeder William Ackerman of Ashton, Maryland, who began working on cold hardiness after the entire collection of camellias at the US National Arboretum in Washington D.C. was nearly lost following a series of cold winters in the late 1970s. Cultivars such as ‘Winter’s Beauty,’ ‘Winter’s Charm,’ ‘Winter’s Star,’ and ‘Polar Ice’ are part of the Ackerman hybrid group.
Another series of cold-hardy camellias was bred by Dr. Clifford Parks, former director of the Coker Arboretum at UNC-Chapel Hill. ‘Survivor’, ‘Twilight Glow’, and ‘Autumn Spirit’ are cold-hardy fall-winter blooming camellias, and ‘Red Aurora’ and ‘April Tryst’ are late winter/early spring bloomers with increased cold hardiness. Camellias do have a few relatively minor pest problems, such as scale, aphids, and spider mites, which cause some light cosmetic damage. Many of these are avoidable or at least controllable if the plants are grown in the right environment – partial-shade locations with moist, well-drained soil, and a fair amount of organic matter. Locations where azaleas or mophead hydrangeas thrive are typically also adequate for camellias, though the camellias will take up a larger amount of space. Matthew Stevens is the horticulture extension agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact the Pitt County Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705. |
Matt Stevens
Pitt County Extension Director & Horticulture Agent Archives
February 2026
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